About Jeff Griffiths

Jeff has been involved with consulting, training, and skills development for over 20 years. From 1981 to 1995 he was an officer in the Canadian Forces, and served in many operations, training, and standards roles. He developed the operations and deployment training programs for the Canadian Forces’ mobile tactical radar squadrons, and was involved in developing the tactical doctrine for these systems. After leaving the Forces in 1995, Jeff worked with a number of firms in the aerospace sector, including an assignment as head of training and development for a multi national aerospace defense command and control system.

He received his Certified Management Consultant designation in 2001, and has worked extensively in skills analysis and competency development, including work with Nestlé Canada’s ‘World Class’ maintenance skills initiative, and designing the foundation front-line leadership program for Nestlé North America. He is a member of the Canadian Vocational Association, and was trained by the CVA in the DACUM occupational analysis methodology. He is also a member of the Canadian Society for Training and Development, the American Society for Training and Development, and is currently serving as the Registrar of the Institute of Certified Management Consultants of Alberta and the Chair of the National Certification Committee for CMC Canada.

Jeff is fully bilingual (English and French), and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Administration from the College Militaire Royal de St Jean.

Syd Griffiths: May 3rd, 1924 to October 9th, 2013

I’ve said in a previous post that my father was the inspiration for my focus on the skilled trades. He was a consummate craftsman who came to Canada from England in 1953 with virtually nothing but his hand tools and a dream, and forged a successful life here. My mother joined him here from England in 1954, and they were married here in Canada, raised three kids, and lived the least 20-odd years in a quiet but full retirement. On the 9th of October, my father died after a short illness, with the family around him. I made it to Ontario with a few hours to spare. He was 89 years old, my folks would have celebrated 60 years of marriage and 60 years together in Canada next summer. [Read more…]

Most people understand the concepts of courtesy, respect, and dignity. Even rude people know how to be respectful when they want something !! Competent people are courteous and respectful, and try to avoid rudeness. This requires a decision. [Read more…]

I’ve recently been involved in a lengthy online discussion with colleagues from ASTD, which was started by an article lamenting the “evils” of PowerPoint, and how it’s “Killing Training”.You know what they mean. We’ve all had “Death-by-PowerPoint” inflicted upon us, presentation, with reams and reams of text on slide after slide after slide knows what I’m talking about.

The number of slides used in presentations and training sessions seems to constantly be going up: I’ve seen 15-minute info briefings with 75 or more slides, which the presenter then proceeded to read more or less verbatim. [Read more…]

The latest info from CAF confirms what we instinctively know: it’s the mentors, stupid.

We know that completion rates for apprenticeship are low, and have been for years. We are having a lot of success attracting people into the trades (total registered apprentices in Canada are now twice what theywere a fewyears ago) but we still haven’t managed to improve the success rates, so while we are turning out more skilled people from apprenticeship programs, we could be doing so much better. In fact, we NEED to do better.

The Canadian Apprenticeship Forum has been looking at the issue, and in a recent event in Vancouver they shared some of their results. And those results reinforce something we instinctively know: you want more grads, you need to improve the teaching.

The CAF research points to the absolutely critical role that mentors play in ensuring the success of apprentices. Choosing the right mentors, and supporting them in their role, has huge benefits for your organization. So here are 5 tips to help you select the right mentors, and give them the tools they need for success. [Read more…]

How many of your training initiatives have your employees sitting passively listening to information? We’ve all heard that learning improves when people are active, and the latest neurological research provides additional evidence that supports that view.

Researchers have known for some time that the hippocampus region of the brain is critical for long-term memory and learning.

New research shows that exercise causes increases in serotonin production, which promotes the growth and rejuvenation of nerve cells in the hippocampus.